Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Modern Magic: A Quartet of Fractured Fairy Tales

A Quartet of Fractured Fairy Tales

What if Cinderella
ditched the prince's ball and sent her fairy godmother to find love in her
place?

Suppose a streetwise
hero hired to steal an all-powerful Genie (stuck in a flash drive rather than a
brass lamp) for a tech company ended up running for his life with the CEO's
gorgeous, intelligent daughter?

Or what if the bed that
a certain golden-tressed girl accidentally napped in belonged to the hot and
famous middle brother of a notorious boy band?

Can you envision the
sparks that might fly if a bitter and downright beastly wheelchair-bound woman
propositioned a handsome bookseller to stay with her in exchange for her rare
book collection?

Jazlin
moved around him and headed down the sidewalk. The woman briefly knelt next to
a man asleep under an awning and slipped several bills into his coffee can.
Every instinct in Aiden wanted to grab her away from the homeless man. “That’s
not smart.”

“I
was following you.”

“What?”

“You
asked what I was doing here. I was following you.”

“You asked what I was doing here. I was
following you.”

“And
that’s not smart either. Why?”

A
look crossed her face that said, how dense can you be?

“To
find out where you were going.”

Damn,
she was sassy. Something close to laughter boiled up inside him. He’d forgotten
the last time he laughed. “Is living dangerously something you just felt like
doing tonight, princess?”

“Stop
calling me that.”

Aiden
couldn’t help raking his eyes over her from head to foot—beautiful, exotic,
every inch of her perfect. Smooth, dark chestnut hair flowed gently down her
back almost to her waist. She nervously pulled a tassel of hair around to the
front, twisted it around her finger, and then let it loose. It took everything
in him to keep from brushing it behind her shoulder, taking his time to caress
the back of his finger over the swell of her breast.

“You’re
staring.”

“Yeah.
That’s what happens when you follow someone, princess.”

“Seriously,
don’t call me that. I’m not—”

“What
should I call you?”

“Jazlin.”

“That
fits.” He leaned on the wall with his hands on his hips. “Again, why in hell
are you following me?”

This
time, a faint hint of rose appeared on her cheeks. Her gaze roamed passed his
left shoulder. “Do you work for Malcolm Morgan?”

Aiden
stepped into her personal space, eyes narrowing. Anyone in their right mind
would’ve had the sense to run right about now. She lifted her bewitching eyes
and matched his glare with one of her own.

“Is
that your business?”

She
had the decency to swallow. “No. Well, kind of. He’s not a nice man, and—”

“How
do you know him, princess?”

Her
expression turned hard, and her hands fisted at her sides. “Don’t call me that
again.”

“Answer
the damn question.”

“I’m
trying to figure out what he is up to.”

“So
you’re out spying on your sugar daddy. Did he find himself a little plaything
on the side? Maybe it’s time you readjust your standards.”

“You
think I’m his … that I would … ”

Aiden
spun her around and gave her shoulder a light push. “Go home.”

“Whatever
he paid you, I’ll double it.”

He’d
sure as hell read that situation wrong. Still, the woman was crazy to go
against someone like Malcolm Morgan. “No.” He placed a hand on her elbow and
began walking back the way they had come.

She
jerked her arm free and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Okay, I’ll
triple it.”

His
pulse quickened. “Where’s your vehicle?”

“Why?”

“I’m
putting you in it, and you’re getting out of this neighborhood.”

“God,
you’re such a macho, pigheaded jerk.” She maneuvered around him and strutted to
the corner, Karo at her heels. The dog paused and appeared to be waiting for
Aiden to catch up, like he was slowing down the party.

“Shit,”
Aidan muttered. “I’ve fallen down a fucking rabbit hole.”

When
he finally caught up to Jazlin, she was standing in the middle of the block
with her fists at her waist. “It’s not this block, is it?”

Without
waiting for him to answer, she rushed further down the sidewalk, pausing only
long enough to check traffic before she crossed the street. The building she
stopped in front of was the address from Morgan, but Aiden wasn’t going to
share that tidbit.

Jazlin
was the first woman in a long time who made him wish he’d shaved his Unabomber
beard and worn something he hadn’t slept in the last two days. But, damn, was
she high-strung and unreasonable.

“So,
now what, princess?”

Her
stare bore into him, nearly causing him to take a step back. “Call me that
again and you’ll be eating pavement.”

Aiden
moved in close enough that her spicy scent made his mouth water. “Sweetheart,
you don’t want to threaten me.”

She
sucked in a breath and whispered, “What’s your name?”

“Aiden
Cooper.”

“I’m
not afraid of you, Mr. Cooper.”

“You
should be.”

Nancy
C. Weeks, author of His One Wish has
loved happy-ever-after romances since she was in her early teens. While still
in college, she met and married her hero. She spent the next several years
honeymooning and working overseas. Today, she lives in suburban Maryland with
her husband of more than thirty years. With her two grown children out of the
nest, she loves spending her days on her deck writing as the local bird
population keeps her company.

Hi Sharon! I can't you enough for showcasing Modern Magic. It was a blast letting my imagination swirl as I re-created the role of Aladdin in Aiden Cooper and Jasmine into Jazlin. His One Wish was such a fun novella to write, and I have to say, I'm thoroughly enjoying the new twists in the other three books in Modern Magic. I don't think I will ever out grow my love of fairy tales.